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Former Everton and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says he loves one player that Liverpool signed this summer, with Hugo Ekitike having caught his eye so far.
Ekitike was signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee that could reach $106 million (£79 million) including add-ons, and has since scored five goals in 15 competitive appearances. With Alexander Isak playing catch-up in terms of his fitness, the Frenchman has a hold of the number nine jersey as things stand.
Asked on The Overlap Fan Debate for his verdict on Ekitike, Rooney kept it short but sweet. "Brilliant," he said. "I love watching him play."
Rooney also offered his verdict on Isak, who was named on the bench at Manchester City at the weekend but was an unused substitute in the 3-0 defeat.
"Do you know what, I think with Isak, people don't realize how important your pre-season is," he said. "If you don't have pre-season, it is very difficult.
"With everything that went on and trying to get out of Newcastle, missing that, it's no surprise he got injured. If you miss pre-season, you are always catching up and it's very difficult."
After the international break, Arne Slot will have some tough calls to make in terms of his starting XI. The Liverpool boss will be able to select Ekitike and Isak, with the latter expected to play for Sweden this week.
"I don't think it's the right word," Ekitike said last week when he was asked by Sky Sports about the 'competition' for places between him and Isak at Anfield.
"We play for the same team. Obviously there's only a few places on the pitch but we play for the same team, so we grow together, share the pitch and we just push each other to get better. That's how I see competition.
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"It takes time to see the quality. For the new players, we come from different clubs, we have to find links, play together. It takes time to have the perfect team in terms of playing and collective.
"It can work, definitely. We need to train together, play together and it will get better.
"Sometimes it works like you have this connection with people and it's more easy, but sometimes it's spending time on the pitch, getting to know the other guy, what he likes, how he likes to run in the channel, how he likes the ball, in behind [or to] come and play link-up."
Liverpool.com says: It will be fascinating to see how Slot uses Isak and Ekitike. They can play together, for sure, but they haven't done so much so far, and there is Florian Wirtz to fit in too. It's a luxury conundrum.
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